Learning You Were Wrong
by Jimi1
Summary: Hermione went to college in the States, and has lost touch with Harry and Ron. When Ron and Hermione meet up in a US club, they have to put their pasts to rest. R/H :o)
1. The Meeting

A/N- Hey everyone! This is my first fic that I wrote because I was bored. I am American, but I tend to use British spellings (I lived there for a bit) and British phrases, but not punctuation, so that's why that is if anyone notices. This is kind of an old plot, but I put my own flair into itso read and let me knew if it's any good! : -)

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Chapter One- Meeting

Hermione was sitting in her apartment with a cup of tea in her hand, reading the _Daily Prophet. _

Hearing a loud bang, Hermione's head shot up, only to find her roommate looking at her, wand pointed into the air. 

"Wa was that for?" Hermione was still a little groggy from waking up, and a slow news day didn't help much. 

"I said, are you planning on going down to the Club tonight?" Kristi was a very nice person and friend, but a crazy party animal. She went to The Club nearly every Friday and Saturday night, whether Hermione came or not. 

"I dunno, depends on what work we get from the professors, I guess," Hermione stood on her fuzzy, blue slippered feet. "I am going to take a shower," she announced, abruptly leaving the room and heading for her bedroom to get her clothes. 

The apartment Hermione shared with Kristi was with in walking distance of their school grounds. It had two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen/ breakfast area, and a living room. It was on the twelfth floor, and overlooked the park, in which her school was concealed. 

She walked past the window, into her room, picked up her bathrobe, and headed to the shower.

The hot water felt good on Hermione's back, and was starting wake her up more. Feeling a bit more alert, she went over her schedule in her mind. Rosefin's classthen Jade's, lunch, Duberry, and lastly Lotier. She should be able to go clubbing tonight. Getting out of the shower, she dried her hair, pulled on her bathrobe, and walked back to her room. 

Upon entering, she looked around, and found a pair of jeans and a light pink T-shirt. She pulled them on, and then a light gray zip up sweater over it, it gets chilly on Hartford mornings, even if it was spring. 

She waved good bye to Kristi as she left, casually strolling down the road. She arrived at her first class, and sat down. 

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The bell had finally rung, signaling the end of Lotier's class. As she packed up her bags, the professor called her up to the front. 

"Ms. Granger I have a favour to ask of you."

"What is it I can do for you, Professor Lotier?" Hermione smiled, she loved it when she could feel useful. 

"Well, there is someone from a British advertising agency coming over to the school tomorrow morning. He is taking shots of the school, and other places around Hartford, to use as in the US marketing of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I was wondering if you could show him around the campus, and take him where he needs to go, both here and around the city." The Professor grinned at her. He knew that she would never be able to say no to something like this; she was just that type of person.

"Of course, Professor, I would be glad to show him around! Do you know his name?" She didn't expect him to, but she figured she'd ask. 

"No, I'm sorry, I don't. The office doesn't know who will be sent over."

"Thank you very much." She didn't mind doing something like this on a Saturday. It just meant she couldn't stay out too late at The Club though.

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"Herm, let's get going! You don't want to get there last, do you?" Kristi was anxiously waiting by the door. 

"What's the big deal? People don't stop arriving until two AM anyway!" Hermione was putting on a dash of eyeshadow, as quickly as she could without mussing it up.

"Heeeeeeeerm! Come on!"

"Sheesh, alright! Here I come!" Hermione stepped into the living room, wearing a light foam blue dress. It came down to just above her knee, and was a tank top; cut not so low it was revealing, but low enough to be worth wearing to a club. Her white shoes were about two inches tall, and were the kind with a few straps just across the top and toes to make sure they stay on. Her lips had just some lip-gloss, and some very light pink blush was brushed across her face. She had on a bit of dark mascara, and glittery, white eye shadow, she never like too much make-up. 

"You ready now?" Kristi was for some reason very impatient. 

"Yes! Are you meeting a new boyfriend there or something? The way you are pushing me out makes me a bit suspicious." Hermione narrowed her eyes teasingly. She knew very well that Kristi always told when she had a boyfriend, she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Ha, ha," and with that they were out the door.

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Ron was sitting at the bar of some club he had found when walking around town. He was bored, with nothing to do, and no one he knew here, he decided to come in and meet some people. If, at nothing else, he could at least have something to drink. 

"What'll it be, hon?" the very tall lady behind the bar asked. She had long straight black hair, and was wearing tight black pants and a very low cut gold shirt. 

"Umma beer, I guess," he wasn't really a beer person, but what the hell, he'd go for it. 

"Oh, a British man! There's a lady who comes here quite often, she's also from England, somewheres outside London, I believe. She's sweet, you should talk to her if she comes in, the two of you may have somethin' in common. Oh! Look, there she come now!" The bartender waved her hands over her head, to get the woman's attention over the loud music. She looked over and saw the woman at the bar waving, and started to walk casually over. Ron couldn't tell what she looked like yet, but she was wearing a light blue dress, that came to just above her knee, and made her look _very _nice, at least from what he could tell. 

As she drew closer, her saw she had slightly bushy chestnut brown hair. _No, it can't be_, he thought. _I haven't seen her for ages! _Yet, as she drew closer, he was sure who it was. "Hermione?" he whispered, but no one heard over the din. As the distance closed between them, he no longer had any question in his mind who that person in the blue dress wasHermione Granger. 

He stood up as she approached, and she squealed, "Oh my God! Ron?" She ran the last few steps and threw her arms around him. Then she seemed to realize who she was hugging, and stepped back, her eyes wide. The bartender and the friend that she had come in with were staring at her. 

"Hello, Hermione, long time, no see." Ron had a small smile on his face, clearly laughing on the inside at the look on Hermione's face. 

They were still standing there staring at each other, when the bar tender cut in, "Care to introduce us Hermione?"

"Oh, yes! Celene, this is Ron Weasly. Kristi, this is Ron." Hermione never took her eyes from his face as she made introductions. My, my, he had changed. He was still tall, still as red haired as ever, but he waswow! He had his hair cut so it was short and kind of spiky on the top. His body had filled out quite a bit, and he had a smattering of freckles across his nose. 

"Oh, so you're Ron! I've heard so much about you from Hermione, she goes on and on about you and Harry Potter and your days at Hogwarts. I wish I could have gone to Hogwarts that would have been so much fun. And—" Hermione elbowed her, she was babbling as she always did when she met a guy she thought was hot. She would start talking, and never stop. Making the guy think she was some kind of stupid, talkative, ditz. 

"Yeah, Hogwarts was great!" He had not pried his eyes away from Hermione, and was looking at the girl he was addressing. "We had a lot of fun, and got into a lot of trouble for it as well." He looked back at Hermione. "So, how did you end up here?"

"Me?" she inquired stupidly. "Oh, I go to school here actually. Didn't I tell you before I left?"

"No, you simply said that you were going away to college, not where, not when, you just said I'm going to leave for college!' and then you did." Ron was looking at Hermione now, clearly wanting to know why she had told no one where she was going. 

"Oh, really, ummare you sure?" He could tell that she didn't want to say anything about it in front of her friends.

He walked up to her, leaned over and whispered, would you rather talk about this outside?" She nodded her ascent, and Ron turned to her friends. "Sorry, but we're going to step outside for a moment." He took Hermione's arm and felt a shiver run up his hand as he lightly grasped her arm. 

He led her out the door and onto the street outside, the usually busy street was deserted. "So, do you want to tell me why you never told anyone, not even your parents, where you were going?" He was looking down at her, and she was gazing fixedly at the ground. She started to whisper, but he couldn't hear a word she was saying. He gently placed a hand under her chin, and tilted her head upwards, so he could see her face. "The only one who can hear when you talk that way is the ground." Smiling slightly to encourage her, he waited for her to speak. 

"II left because, because I wanted to get away." She tried to look down again, but his hand wouldn't let her. He looked straight into her eyes, willing her to tell him more, the real reason, or at least the rest of it. 

"And, you left to get away from what?" She knew he wasn't going to let her get out of answering his questions that easily. 

"I wanted to get away from everything"Ron led them over to a bench that was sitting outside against the wall of the building. "I didn't want so much pressure from people, I wanted to be alone, and figure out what I really wanted. I knew I wanted to go to school some more, hell, I'm still there. I knew that for sure, but I didn't know if that was all I wanted, or if I wanted more. I wanted to come here so that I could figure out if what I thought was true, or if I was fooling myself." She was being very careful not to look at him, to look anywhere but at Ron. His intense blue eyes shimmering in the darkness, red hair standing out in the night. 

"So what you are saying is that you ran away." He was still looking at her, with the same expression, which quickly changed when her head sprang up and she had an angry fire in her eyes.

"I did not _run away!_" She was nearly yelling in his ear, and her shouting voice hadn't changed since he'd last heard it, he was prepared to fight back this time though. 

"Yes you did," he spoke clearly, not raising his voice. "You were scared. What I said that night made you think. It made you think that maybe you were wrong. Maybe, just maybe you hadn't thought your life through enough. That, perfect Hermione Granger may still have some things to sort out." He never took his eyes from her face, seeing clearly he had hit a nerve, and that couldn't be good for him. All he could hope was that it would make her think some more. 

"You're wrong, what you said had nothing to do with me coming here, _nothing._" Her eyes were still on fire, but even though she knew he was wrong, she couldn't find a way to argue her point. 

"Really?" was all he said, and then he stood up, so did she. 

"I don't run from my problems, and I never have. If I did, then I would have been out of here a long time ago!" She turned away and walked up the street to a back alley where Ron heard a faint pop as she disapperated. 

"Herm, why can't you just admit you were wrong? Why can't I?" he whispered to the silent night. Looking up at the starry sky he disapperated back to his hotel from right where he was standing, not caring who saw. 


	2. The Invitation

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A/N- Thanx to my reviewers!! Adnap Nottap- You _will _find out what Ron said to herjust not quiet yetin the next to or three chapters! J Be patient with me! And thank you for pointing out my typo Weasley does have another e'! Haley J. The Bat- yeah I know some of the things seem a little OOC, but I figured that they have grown up and gone though a lot, their perspectives would change a bit. Something else Grindylow, I believe that is how it is spelled, but I couldn't find my book to check. I also won't usually post this often, but I am taking the GEPA's (really annoying standardized state test) this week in school, and the teachers have decided to be cool and not give us homeworkso I have nothing better to do. 

Disclaimer: (I noticed I neglected to put this one the previous chapter) standard stuff, I don't own Harry Potter and all that.

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Chapter Two- The Invitation

Hermione returned to her apartment, and not surprisingly, Kristi wasn't home yet. She has probably found some cute guy, other than Ron, to run off with for a couple hours. Either that or she was dead drunk, in which case Hermione would get a telephone call from Celeste at one in the morning asking if she could drive over and get her friend.

As she pulled off her club clothes, and replaced them with her flannel pants and t-shirt, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Ron.

"You ran away," he had said. "What I said made you think." Had it? Had it indeed affected her choice to come to Connecticut. Had what he'd said that night made her realize that she had made a mistake? She wasn't sure, but she knew if she dwelled on the subject, she would never get to sleep. Instead she focused her mind on different things, like what Ron now _looked _like, instead of what he had said. He had changed since she had left. Not so much he was unrecognizable, but enough to make him go form goofy and lanky to drop dead gorgeous. 

It was with these wonderful thoughts, that Hermione drifted off into an untroubled sleep. 

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Hermione woke to hear the shower running, so Kristi had gotten home, and sunlight streaming through the curtains onto her face. She rolled over placing her feet on the thick forest green carpet. The walls of her bedroom were white, and had some flower pictures scattered across them. The desk in the corner was piled high with papers, books, pens, pencils, quills, inkbottles, and various erasers. The desk chair had her jacket thrown over the back from when she had gotten home last night with too much on her mind to put it away properly. The chest of drawers was against the wall opposite her bad, with more books, perfume, and some make-up lying on top. She also had a full-length mirror on the back of her door. 

Pulling on her comfy, fluffy bathrobe, she walked into the kitchen for tea. There was already some brewing, signaling that Kristi had been up long enough to make herself a cup. _How does that woman do it? _Hermione asked herself. _Spending the whole night at The Club and then she goes and wakes up at 7:00 in the morning! _Hermione didn't want to ponder this question, she knew that she would never find the answer.

As she was finishing her tea Kristi came walking into the kitchen, dressed in black jeans and a bright red shirt, with a pink towel wrapped like a turban around her head. "Good morning, Herm! Have a nice sleep?" She is way too perky in the morning, Hermione mused.

"Yeah I guess. Are you done with the bathroom? I have to go into school today." Kristi didn't even ask why, Hermione was always going in to use the library, or a special reference or piece of equipment that was only available to the school. She merely nodded and Hermione got slowly to her feet, staggering only half awake to the bathroom.

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Walking onto the Hartford University of Magic grounds, Ron could smell the early blooming crocuses, and feel the spring sun on his face and back. Today would be a wonderful day to take pictures for the Bertie Bott's ads. He was supposed to meet some student by the front doors of the Administrative Office. 

He walked into, what he thought were the front doors of the school, only to find that it led him into a courtyard. There were trees planted around the edges, and a few dotted the middle with little benches sitting under them. Budding spring time flowers were blooming in the small gardens under the trees, and there were winding white gravel paths leading off in every direction, then meeting in the middle, giving the effect of a sun. The walls were high, and made out of red brick, and the doors he had come through were in an 1800's Victorian style, with lacy flowers winding their was across. 

He walked up the path that led from the front door to the middle, where they all ended up anyway, to see if he could get a good enough view and see if there was any kind of sign pointing the way to the office. When he got there, which took no time at all as the path wasn't very long to begin with and he was looking at the scenery, he finally noticed that the courtyard was deserted. Deserted, that is, except for one person he saw leaning against the building opposite him. She was wearing blue jeans, and a black short sleeved shirt with a red dragon printed across the front. She also had bushy brown hair, and he knew right away that Hermione had been his appointed guide for the day. She must have realized who he was as well, for when she started to walked forward, she stopped for a second, strengthening her resolve, before moving forward again. 

They met at one of the little benches, Hermione searching for words and Ron trying to look cool, calm and collected. 

"You are the one who works for the advertising agency?" Hermione's incredulous voice broke the awkward silence between them. Her tone was not one of anger, annoyance, or regret, as Ron had expected, it was more surprise than anything. 

"Yeah, yeah I am. Been working there ever since I graduated from MWU," Ron didn't appear too surprised that she had asked him.

"_You _went to MWU. As in the Merlin Wizarding University?" _Why does she seem so surprised? _Ron asked himself.

"Yes, that one, I don't know of any others. I was accepted, don't ask how because I don't know. I got a degree as an Auror, and in Advertising. What with the fall of Voldemort and all, I wasn't sure how much use there would be for an auror, so here I am."

"Oh, well then, what are we doing today?" Hermione was in her business, get everything done mode.

"Well, first I figured we could do some shots of the Hartford University grounds. Then go and do some pictures of Hartford, and have lunch somewhere in between all that." He stated it as if it were obvious, which Hermione supposed, it was. 

"Alright we better get started then. What do you need pictures of?" 

"Well, Bertie Bott's wanted some magical creatures and some of the grounds."

"Do you want to take pictures of the wild ones or of the captive ones in the magical biology lab?" She was speaking as though to a very small child who needed to be asked such obvious questions.

Ron picked that up, but decided to ignore it. He opted for replying like a child to a particularly dense grownup. "We could start with the captive ones, Herm."

Hermione was surprised by the old nickname, but tried her best not to show it. "Alright!" She turned around and head for the centre of the courtyard where all the paths met. She chose a longer one that ended at a pair of tutor doors. They opened when they approached, and slid back into place as they walked through. The hallway they were walking down was a long stone corridor. Every so often there would be an arched wooden doorway in the side of the hall. An occasional window would pass up near the ceiling, but other than that there was nothing. 

"Looks, like a prison," Ron muttered under his breath. Unfortunately it was not quiet enough. Hermione heard him and stopped. She turned around and looked at him.

"Why, do you say that?" Her voice had once again changed, to a teacher talking to an unruly student. 

"Well, we are in a damp stone hallway. There are only a few doors, and the windows, the few of them that are actually here, are small and near the ceiling." His exasperated tone did not make Hermione happy.

She answered him as though she was again a teacher, only this time her student knew nothing. "We are underground. There are not very many doors, because this is where are the protective wards are set up. These rooms hold things that are very large and need to be magically protected, therefor the rooms must be large to accommodate them. There are no decorations on the walls for fear of interfering with a delicate experiment that is going on down here. They won't tell us what it is, but that's life. We are headed to the animal cages. Follow me." Now she sounded like a tour guide, what was with Hermione?

They got nearly down to the end of the hall when Hermione stopped. She said something and the door opened, revealing a jungle habitat. They had to search, but soon they found all different animals, from magical bugs to cats and boa constrictors. Ron took picture after picture. The whole reason he had been sent was because Hartford University had one of the best living collections of magical creatures in the world.

They went through room after room of different habitat. Ron got a real shock when a door opened and in front of him was rippling blue water, completely covering the doorway.

"Go on in," Hermione instructed. When Ron hesitated, she grabbed his hand, sending a jolt of electricity up her arm, and pulled him into the water. It was the weirdest thing Ron had ever experienced. He was in what was clearly water, as there were a few Grindylows swimming past, but he could breathe just fine. When he moved it was like walking through jello, it would mould around his and Hermione's bodies, and was thick with a bit of a squishy feeling. When they left that room they both were completely dry. 

When they were done with the animals they went outside to see the grounds. They were wonderful! As they strolled through looking at the different spring flowers, taking more and more pictures. They talked about the different flowers, the animals, the nice warm weather, and other things of simple conversation. 

The grounds were finally done, _Thank God, _Ron thought, although they still had the rest of the city to do. 

They walked down the street and Ron asked, "So where do you want to go for lunch?" It was nearly 12:30, and he was starving from the jetlag and still having his body used to UK time. 

"Well"Hermione thought, "There is always the coffee shop."

"Alright, whatever."

They continued strolling, for once in a companionable silence. The rounded a corner and there was a little café with coffee cup shaped sign hanging out over the small street that read "The Coffee Shop." Ron and Hermione went in and took a seat. 

"Ron, there is something I have to ask you." 

__

Oh, no, Ron panicked, _this can't be good._

"I want to know why you are here."

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"Why are you here? Why didn't they send over a photographer? No offense or anything, but that would have been more logical."

That was Hermione, always one for logic. "I don't know exactly why. They asked me to come and I did." It was truly all the explanation he had, and she could tell, Ron was never very good at hiding what he felt.

"So any clue what you are going to do with those pictures?"

"Not a clue."

"May I make a few suggestions?"

"Go ahead."

And she was off, as she would explain something, more ideas would come, and she'd go back to ones she had described and change them, making them better and more interesting. Ron listened, picturing what she said in his mind and telling her some other things that could be done as well. Between the two of them, there were some very wacky ads that could be made.

They ordered lunch, and when it came, Hermione laughed. 

"What's so funny?" Ron looked down at his bowl of bouillabaisse. Odd thing for a coffee shop to have, but they always had some kind of strange or exotic food on the menu. 

"I just remembered, in our fourth year, you met Fleur Delacour, when she asked you to hand over the bouillabaisse! And then I started to think about when you asked her to the Ball!" Hermione dissolved into giggles. 

"That was not funny!" Ron was trying as hard as he could to keep a straight face.

They spent the rest of their meal reminiscing over their memories from school, funny things they had done, good times, stupid mistakes, making fun of teachers, everything well, almost everything. Ron didn't mention what had happened between them, and she was very thankful to him for it.

As they left the shop, Hermione glanced at her watch, just after 1:30. "So, shall we hit the streets?"

They spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures and laughing over the weird ads that could be made from them. Some were good, some too far fetched, and some just inappropriate for this purpose. 

For example Hermione wanted to take a picture of the Public Library. "We are trying to sell candy here, not a new book," Ron protested.

Or, Ron saying, "We could take one of the Quidditch Stadium!"

"And what purpose would that serve, Ron?"

"We could show how the Chudley Cannons would kick their American arses!"

"Ron, we are selling candy, not Chudley Cannon tickets!" Hermione imitated what he had said to her before.

It was a very nice day, when around 4:30 they got back to the museum, ,and called it a day. As Hermione was about to leave, Ron thought of something he wanted to ask her. "Um, Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"I have a question for _you_ now." Ron was not sure what she would say to him. 

"Yes?" Hermione answered tentatively.

"Well, you did a really nice job coming up with the different advertisements, and I was wondering, if your not busy that is, if you wanted to come to England, and help me finish them up?" He could see her thinking very hard about her decision.

"I don't know Ron, I have a lot of work I have to do."

"Please Hermione. I would really like to use some of your ideas. You could see Harry and Ginny, and Mum, and everyone." He could tell that seeing everyone again was pulling her to say yes.

"How about, if I leave here Friday night around midnight. I'll get home from classes get some sleep and then apparate over. I'll get to customs at around 6 AM, British time. If you could meet me there, that would work. Then I can go home, go to sleep, and leave around midnight the next night to come back!" Hermione's face was glowing at having figured out the answer to her problem. "And then I will have time to see everyone again as well!"

"Look, Hermione, why don't you stay with me in my apartment?" He could tell she didn't really like the idea much. "Or you could stay with Mum and Dad at the Burrow! Mum would love to see you again!"

"Won't your mum be mad at me for losing contact with you for all these years?" She looked worried.

"Nope. She actually was telling me not too long ago that if you ever came back she would welcome you with open arms. She figures that you have just been so busy with schooling, and that you have a new life over there now, so you may not keep contact. I mean with all the stuff that happened to you, your parents being possessed, to try and get closer to Harry, and then dying from it–" he stopped, the look on Hermione's face telling him he had brought back some bad memories. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him for a minute, even though she stiffened for a second he held on, before speaking. "I'm sorry, Herm," he whispered to her, "my point was, that Mum would be dying to have you."

Hermione pulled away from him, and stepped back, feeling cold after the heat of Ron's body. "Thanks, Ron, can you meet me in the Diagon Alley Customs Port at 6 AM on Saturday morning?"

"Of course, then we can go up to The Burrow, drop off you stuff and take it from there. Go to the office, let you sleep, hang around a bit, whatever."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you again, Ron."

"For the last time it's no problem, I've got to get back and pack." With a last parting smile, they went their separate ways.

A/N- I seem to like ending chapters with them going back to their respective housing. Maybe because it signals the end of their time together for that day? I don't know, anyway, Review if you like, I like to know what people think, good or bad.


	3. Old Friends

A/N- We see some of Kristi's really weird personality shine through here, incase you are interested. Another odd thing about my spelling, I used check not cheque, and queue instead of line. Go figure! (don't try and figure out why I use nearly all British phrases except for that one word! You and I may hurt ourselves trying) Thank you to ALL of my reviewers who I am too lazy to list now, but maybe in the next chapter. J I do have to say to Adnap Nottap- sorry, but you were right, I was laughing! :o) You quite likely will find out what happened with them in the next chapter, that was _quite likely, _but it is not set in stone as I have not yet written the chapter. This is a very lengthy chapter as well, 11 pages or something life that.

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Chapter Three- Old Friends

When she got home on Saturday afternoon, she found Kristi using the internet on the computer that they had situated on a table against the living room wall. She seemed to be looking up different types of flowerpots, but Hermione didn't ask why. 

"Um, Kris?"

"Hmm?" she grunted in reply.

"Is it alright with you if I go away next weekend?" Hermione bit her bottom lip, she knew she had to tell Kristi why, and then she would get the wrong idea. 

Sure enough, Kristi stopped what she was doing, and turned around to look at Hermione. "Why? Where are you going?" she asked, a smile appearing on her lips. "Are you and that Ron fellow we met going on some romantic outing. I know you were with him today."

Hermione started at the lady in front of her. "How did you know I was with him?"

"I saw you in The Coffee Shop, looked like the two of you were having a _very_ nice time." Her smile was broadening into an evil grin. "Come on Hermione, you can tell _me _why you're leaving."

"Yes, I was with him today, but not for the reason you think. I was assigned to take a bloke from a British ad agency around the school to take pictures of the magical creatures, and the rest of the city. He just turned out to be the bloke is all." Hermione started to fidget, but abruptly told herself to stop, because if Kristi noticed she would doubt Hermione's story even more.

"Yeah, sure that's what happened. Now where are the two of you going, eh?" The evil grin was still in place.

"England, alright!" The "evil grin" had then been promoted to a "sadistic smirk."

"Oooooo, you and Ron are going somewhere together, tell me are you staying at his house as well?" Hermione was trying her best to stay calm. She _hated _when Kristi did this to her, and she knew it too.

"No, Kristi, I am not staying at his flat. I will be staying at his mother's house." She thought she had dodged the bullet, until Kristi started up again.

"Meeting his parents already are you? The two of you move rather quickly!" Her "sadistic smirk," was still plastered across her face, and she gave Hermione a knowing wink.

"Ugh, alright I am going to start from the beginning!" Hermione was on the brink of fuming now. "Incase there are some details you have forgotten. I went to school with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, who happen to be my best friends. Over the summer I would go visit Ron at his house, ergo I already know his mum–"

The other woman interrupted, "Ergo, Hermione, the two of you were already getting a little frisky."

"Err, I shared a room with his little sister, Ginny," Hermione could see her friend about to intrude again so she added, "in two separate beds." The snide comment dies on Kristi's lips. "I have only been in Ron's room a couple times, and then Harry and/or Ginny were present."

That evil smile grew larger, "_Hermione, _I didn't know you had it in you. Harry was there, and sometimes Ginny as well, I never knew you had this wild side." 

"Alright, I am going to my room, and leave you in the dark as to why I am going!" Hermione stomped off to her room, planning on doing homework, when she heard Kristi call behind her:

"Don't worry I know why your going!"

Hermione decided to ignore this comment, and kept walking to her room.

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The week flew by for Hermione, and before she knew it she was packing Thursday night, for yet another trip to The Burrow. She was walking around making sure she had everything, shirts, pants, shoes, underwear, make-up, toiletries– When her thoughts were interrupted by Kristi at the door. "Packing for your little excursion with Ron?" she asked leaning innocently against the doorframe. 

"Yes, I am packing, but not for an excursion with Ron.' I am going back to see my old friends, and to help make the Bertie Bott's ads."

"Yes, but you will be alone with Ron, for hours on end. Alone in a cold office, sitting on a cold hard chair. I say, why sit on the chair when you have a perfectly good male lap right in front of you?" She smiled, gazing longingly at the ceiling.

"Well, maybe you would, but I would not. I'll take the chair thank you very much." She turned to go and finish her mental checklist, when Kristi again interrupted her, "Well, be cold and heartless if you wish, but I don't think he'd object if you did" She trailed off suggestively. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked coolly.

"It means that your old school friend has the hots for you, and you are too blind to notice."

"He doesn't, he made that very clear a long time ago. Look, Kristi, I don't like talking about it, all right? I need to finish packing." Kristi knew that she had accidentally hit a nerve, and that further teasing from her would be a death wish. She turned and silently left Hermione to her thoughts. 

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Hermione returned from her classes around 4:00. No one was home, but that was to be expected, Hermione's classes started earlier that Kristi's, but Kristi got done much later. 

She went into her bedroom, and laid down on the bed to try and sleep until about 11 PM when she would get up and get ready to leave, leaving around midnight. Once she was lying down, she mentally told each muscle to relax, until she was so relaxed her mind drifted into slumber. 

Her alarm woke her at 11:00 at night, like it was supposed to, and Hermione got up. She pulled out, and put on, a pair of jeans, a bright read t-shirt, with a zip-up black sweater over top. It could get very chilly in England on spring days, at 6:00 in the morning. 

She went into the kitchen to put a pot of tea on to boil, when she found a note pinned to the refrigerator with a cow magnet. She pulled it off and read:

****

Hermione- 

I got home around 5:30. I am at The Club now if you need me.

Have good trip! See you when you get back!

Give Ron a kiss for me! (And maybe one for yourself to go along with it?)

Luv Ya!

Kristi

Hermione laughed, Kristi, always the matchmaker. 

She crumpled up the note and threw it in the rubbish bin so that Kristi would know she read it. The she went into the bathroom to brush her hair and get ready. When she heard the teapot whistle 10 minutes later, she ran from the bathroom, brush stuck in a knot in her hair, to pull the pot off the burner. It was just after 11:30 and she didn't want to wake sleeping neighbours. 

It was about 5 to midnight when Hermione finally got the brush out of her hair, brushed her hair properly, and drank her tea. 

She got her duffel bag out of her bedroom, and set it down next to her on the living room floor. She pulled her wand out of her pocket, and prepared to apparate. She picked up her bag in her left hand, and gave her wand a twist with her right. There was an odd sensation of dissolving, and then she appeared in a huge building, that seemed to be made entirely out of pink marble. She walked forward to join the queue of people going to the customs desk. 

After her passport was stamped by some surly looking goblin, she saw Ron and grinned. It was now 5 minutes after 6 in the morning. Ron started walking towards her with a smile on his face, and Hermione, for some reason unbeknownst to her, was _very _happy to see Ron. 

"Need help with your bag?" he asked kindly with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Oh, Ron, I'm not that weak! There's hardly anything in here besides clothes anyway!" Hermione smiled at him.

"What no books?" he teased her. Hermione would never live her book fetish, which she still possessed just not as obviously, down.

When they stepped out into the bright morning sunlight of Diagon Alley, Hermione froze and looked around. Nothing, from what she could tell, he changed. They were standing next to the giant, white marble building that was Gringotts Bank. Across the street was Eeylop's Owl Emporium. Ron saw the look of awe and remembrance that was on Hermione's face. "Do you want to go straight home, or so you want to stick around for a bit? Nothing's open, but we can have a look around."

So they walked, passing Flourish and Blotts, walking by Quality Quidditch Supplies, strolling past Olivander's Wand Shop.

"Is he still alive?" Hermione asked pointing to the shop as they passed.

"Oh, yeah! Alive and kicking!" Ron stopped in front of the shop and looked at her. "He was ancient when we went to school, but he doesn't look like he's aged a day since then."

They turned away from the shop and walked on. Seeing old shops and new, remembering and laughing. They had just finished a particularly good laugh, about how Neville had eaten one of Fred and George's joke candies, Caroling Catastrophes, and was singing nothing but Christmas carols for the next hour, when Hermione stopped and leaned against a building to get her breath back. Ron leaned next to her, their arms touching slightly. Hermione was very surprised what this small contact was doing to her. 

"I think we've looked at everything, do you wanna go home, or do something else?" Ron looked at her and she realized he was expecting an answer. 

"Oh, yeah, sure we can go to the house. We can apparate from here can't we?"

"You remember where it is?" Ron teased.

"It hasn't been _that _long." Well it had been a long time, too long, a whole seven years had passed.

"Alright, apparate outside the house, unless you want mum to jump you the second you appear, which she might do anyway"he smiled, "Ready? Ok, let's go!"

They twisted their wands, and were gone.

)$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$()$(

Ron and Hermione were in the front yard of The Burrow, chickens fluttering away from their abrupt landing spot, and some gnomes were running across the front garden. That was all Hermione had time to notice before Mrs. Weasley came running out the door, and scooped Hermione up into a bone-crunching hug. "Oh my God, Hermione, you're back!" Mrs. Weasley hadn't let go yet, and she had tears in her eyes, 

"Alright, Mum, let the poor girl breathe!" Ron came and pried his mother's arms off Hermione, and she was again able to breathe.

"Oh, I am so sorry! It's just you've been goneand now you're backand II" Hermione was scooped up again. 

Hermione didn't know what to say. 

"Mum, lets let Hermione go to her room and put her stuff down, then we can talk about what has been going on in our lives." The trooped into the house Mrs. Weasley behind Hermione muttering things like, "I'm so happy you're back!" or "So happy you hadn't forgotten about us."

Hermione was about to turn around, to tell Mrs. Weasley that she could never forget them, when she felt Ron's hand on her arm, stopping her turn with out much effort, the effect of his touch was enough to do that by itself. "Unless you want to get her started again," he whispered into her ear, his breath warm, "I suggest you save any comments for our discussion.'" He pulled his head away from her ear, but didn't take his hand off her arm. He guided her through the house with it, as if she had no clue where she was going, and into Ginny's old bedroom.

"Where does Ginny live now?" she asked.

"With Harry," Ron replied. Hermione's eyes grew, she knew Mrs. Weasley would never have approved of that. Ron saw the look on Hermione's face, "They are engaged, they'll be married in the beginning of June."

"Wow! I guess I missed more than I thought," she sat down on the bed, with Ron next to her. 

"You know that Ginny and Harry were upset that you wouldn't be able to see their wedding. I remember the night that Harry proposed, Ginny started naming people that she could invite, you know how she can be, and said how she wished there was some way to track you down and invite you. Now, you're here, and we know where you are, and I think Ginny and Harry would love to see you again." Ron didn't know why he was going through all this, but he felt he had to if he were going to get Hermione to say yes, and come to dinner that night.

"Oh, Ron," she had tears in her eyes, and she knew this would not be the last time this trip she cried over all the pain she had caused people, "of course I want to see Harry and Ginny!"

"How about for dinner tonight?"

"I know you already have it planned, but I would have agreed anyway."

"I told them that I had a friend they had to meet."

"Ron, you didn't tell them I was back? You are a cruel person!" She slapped him playfully on the arm.

"I know!" Ron was _always _the modest one. 

"So you ready to go and talk to Mum?" Ron looked worried, almost like he thought that maybe Hermione couldn't handle speaking to his mum.

"Yes, it's only your mother." Hermione had an odd look of determination on her face, and she felt that she had to explain to Mrs. Weasley why she never kept contact, even if Ron said she already understood.

"Ok, look, I have to go up to finish a letter I am writing to a colleague, about some new client. You two can go downstairs and have your woman to woman type chat and I'll join you in a bit, all right with you?"

"Sure," Hermione got off of her bed, and walked down the flight of stairs, while Ron continued up to his old room. Hermione made a mental note to look in his room while she was staying to see if the Chudley Cannons were still up.

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Hermione arrived in the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was sitting at the table with a pot of tea and three mugs in front of her. She didn't hear Hermione until she started to speak, "UmmMrs. Weasley" the older woman jumped.

"Oh, dear, you scared me!"

"Sorry, I just thought you should know why I left, without telling where I was going." Hermione sat down across from Mrs. Weasley who was pouring her a mug of steaming tea. 

"You said you were going away to college, and after what happened to you , I understand why you would want to get away for a while, I just–"

Hermione cut her off. "I didn't tell you specifically where I was going. And getting away for so long may have been all right, but I didn't talk to anyone from here, and that was wrong on my part. I was upset over a lot of things and I thought the sooner I get away the better, I didn't mean to lose contact, it just never occurred to me, until it had been so long, I was afraid to send any letters, in fear of getting letters back saying how pissed off everyone was at me, and" Hermione broke into sobs, just as Ron entered the kitchen.

He sat down next to Hermione and gave an inquiring look to his mother, who returned it with one of her I-will-tell-you-later looks. Ron laid a hand on Hermione's back, running it softly up and down, up and down, his touch calming her. 

Hermione turned to him, "I'm sorry, so sorry," and with that she buried her face into his shoulder. Ron wrapped his arms around her soothingly, completely forgetting his mother was in the kitchen. 

"Shhh, it's all going to be ok, calm down Mione, everything is all right" and other soothing words came out of Ron's mouth as he held his best friend close to him. Holding her like this felt so right, so perfect. He continued running his hands up and down her back.

Hermione took her face away from his shoulder and laid her cheek on it instead, "I am sorry for everything I have done, or for what I haven't." She still had a few silent tears running down her cheeks, but she had stopped sobbing, and as she calmed down she started to notice the spicy scent of Ron's cologne. Then Ron noticed that his mother was still in the room, watching them with a slight smile on her face. Ron gently pulled back from Hermione, and looked into her eyes, she nearly stopped breathing, then she too remembered Mrs. Weasley's presence and tried to regulate it as much as she could. 

"No one, _no one, _blames you for leaving. Not Mum, not Harry, not Ginny, and _especially _not me. If anyone really understands why you left, it's _me_." Mrs. Weasley confused by this last statement, but didn't want to interrupt the moment. Another silent tear fell down Hermione's slightly flushed cheek. Ron lifted a hand, and not looking away form her, he brushed the tear away , in a rather intimate gesture Molly mused. "Now, do you want to gowhat is it Ginny always says?freshen up? Then come back down and we can leave for the office." She nodded slowly, got up, and walked upstairs, giving Molly a giant hug on her way by.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

When she was gone Ron's mum said, "Well, she hasn't changed that much. I feel so sorry for the poor girl. She really does regret what she did."

"Yeah, well, if she breaks down and cries like that every time, I don't know what I'll do." Ron said staring up the stairs that Hermione had just climbed. 

"I don't know, Ron," Mrs. Weasley looked at her son and smiled, "you didn't seem to mind too much." She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about, I–"

"Ron, Ron, Ron, when will you learn it never works to lie to your mum. I know you enjoyed very minute you had to hold her, and that you only stopped when you came back to earth and realized I was still in the room."

__

Damn the woman, Ron thought furiously. "How did you–? I mean"

"Ron, you know very well how long I have been a mother, and how many boys I have raised. I also know what it is like to go through that feeling, and I can recognize it a mile away. All I am going to say to Ron is, I don't think Hermione would complain too much if you acted on that feeling." After that bit of motherly advice, she got up and announced she need to finish the wash, and was off leaving Ron to his own thoughts.

__

If only I hadn't screwed up before, he pondered, _then Hermione may not have left, if she did she would have written, and I would have acted on that feeling a _long _time ago._

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When Hermione got back to the kitchen, her face no longer red and blotchy, she found that Mrs. Weasley was gone, and Ron seemed to be in very deep thought. 

"A penny for your thoughts?" she asked, using a phrase she had grown to love.

"Hmm, what, oh, nothing, it was nothing. Thinking about some advertising ideas, that's all." Hermione knew it wasn't all because Ron still had a faintly dazed expression, but she didn't press the matter. 

"Ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah," he stood up.

Are you sure you're up to apparating? You seem kind of distracted."

"No, I am fine, thanks. Just apparate to Trafalgar Square, and we can walk the rest."

She did as she was told, and when they arrived in a crummy looking underground tunnel, Ron explained it was the old Trafalgar Square underground stop. It was now abandoned and used as an apparition point. They climbed the stairs when the guard instructed them to do so, the stairs worked something like Platform 9 3/4, and were in the warm spring sunlight. They walked through bustle, crossed a street and entered tall office building.

The wizarding office building was lit like a muggle one, with overhead fluorescent lighting, and elevators, Hermione couldn't even tell the difference between this one and a muggle one, until they got up stairs. Ron and Hermione get into the elevator, and Ron pushed the button for the 15th floor. At the right floor, they hopped off, and proceeded down the hall. At the end, they came into a big room, with giant tables all around. Witches and wizards were "discussing," Ron told her, how to lay out different ads, putting different pictures and changing the font until they were satisfied, but , Hermione thought, they are really just arguing. They strolled down the middle of these table, and took a left down another small corridor, which opened up into a smaller room where there was a young woman, maybe around 30, sitting at a chair at a desk that was littered with bits of parchment and quills. It must have been organized in her mind, because when Ron approached the woman picked up a stack of parchment and handed it to him, smiling.

"Your mail, Ron."

"Ah, thank you," he said as he took the mail from her out stretched hand. He turned and looked at Hermione, "This is Denise Howard, my secretary, Denise, this is Hermione Granger, an old friend."

"Oh, yes, I should have known! Ron has a picture of you on his desk, you know?" Denise smiled innocently up at Ron, who was blushing. 

"Really? Thank you, I will have to make sure it's a good one, then." She smirked evilly at Ron, and walked into his office.

Hermione walked casually around to the back of the desk, while Ron leaned against the doorframe. She saw many pictures, his family, Harry and Ginny, Harry, Ron and herself, one of the twins and either their girlfriends, or wives, Hermione wasn't sure. 

"Are the twins married yet?" she asked Ron.

"No, they both have been living with their girlfriends for about, oh, nearly four years. Neither has proposed, neither is planning any weddings, they are just happy the way they are. Mum wasn't happy at all when she found out George had moved in with Angelina, and was _really _pissed when Fred followed, only with Alicia. Every time they come home mum says something like, I hope you two don't do anything you'll regret.' Then the twins reply with some cheeky remark like, "Mum, you think I would have sex when I'm not married,' then they gasp," Ron demonstrated the twins gasp of sarcasm, " then they finish with something like, unmarried sex is just wrong.' They try to use the word sex' as often as possible when they answer Mum, because she hates the word, and then they run off and start kissing their girlfriends just to spite her. But, there have been no babies so far, so Mum's happy."

"Your poor mother, putting up with them. I thought your mum _wanted _grandchildren." Hermione looked puzzled.

"Oh, believe me, she does, she would just prefer that they arelegitimate." Hermione sat in Ron's therapeutic chair, while he finished speaking, and he sat in the visitor's chair across the desk.

"So what about Percy, is he married? He doesn't strike me as the type to live with someone before marriage." She leaned back and looked at Ron as he spoke.

"Percy? He's been married for a while to Penelope. Her parents were killed in the fight against Voldemort, both were aurors, and she and Percy got back together at the funeral. Engaged a year later, married six months after that, been happily together ever since, but Mum is on their arses to have children"

Hermione laughed, "So she does want her kids to have children!"

"Yes, yes she _does,"_ he smiled at her from his chair.

"Well, better than my parents who told me I couldn't have kids until I was thirty, even if I was married."

Ron gave her a questioning look, "Why?" he asked. 

"They didn't think that I would be responsible enough to handle it before then. That I wouldn't have enough life experience to get through it and raise the child properly." She gave an exasperated sigh.

"But, what if you felt you were ready? Ms. Perfect-Picture-of-Responsibility Hermione Granger not being able to handle a kid until you're thirty? I think _you _could have handled a child at 18."

"Yeah, thanks, but I don't know what I am going to do with that aspect of my life. I know what job I want, I know I can be successful in it, but getting married, having kids, I don't know what I want." She looked into his eyes. 

"That's your call, Herm. Before you left you had no question in your mind though. You were going to get married, have children, and be a successful businesswoman at the same time. You wanted to prove to the world that people can have a successful business career, and a wonderful personal life with their family. I don't know what happened to that dream, but, I do know that maybe you have thought this thing through too much." At that moment Denise came in and told Ron that she had the pictures he had taken while he was away. He and Hermione got up, and left the room to go and put some ads together. 

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When they were done, Hermione went back to The Burrow, while Ron went to his apartment. He would come back to get her when it was time to leave for dinner with Ginny and Harry. 

When she walked in the door, Molly Weasley was there, with two identical red-haired men sitting at the kitchen table. When they saw her, they got up with looks of astonishment on their faces, apparently, their mother hadn't told them Hermione was here. 

"Hermione?" Fred said.

"Hi, Fred! Hi, George!" she said this slightly shyly for some reason, she thought maybe she was expecting some type of reprimand form them. Instead they came over and have her a big bear hug. Some things never changed, she realized, as she had the air knocked out of her. 

"Why are you here?" they asked her when they had finally let go.

"Ron asked me if I would come and help him put together some ads with him."

"How did _he _find you?"

"Wellit wasn't on purpose, I sorta ran into him at a club" and she proceeded with the entire story of how they had run into each other, taking the ad pictures, and Ron's invitation to come and help put them together. 

"Well, sounds like you two have been having some _fun_!" Hermione didn't miss the suggestive note in George's voice.

"George!" his mother scolded.

"Hermione's a big girl, Mum, she can retort herself." Fred's eyes gleamed.

Hermione looked him and then George. "Ron and I are friends, we have never been anything more, and I doubt we ever will be." She ended her sentence on a slightly disappointed note. 

Fred looked around the kitchen to find that his mother had left to go and clean somewhere upstairs, so he said, "I detect that you would rather be more." His voice held surprising sympathy.

"Look, Fred, it doesn't matter what I want, it will never happen." She looked at the table with her hands in her hair.

"Why not Hermione?" it was George's voice this time, and a comforting hand was laid on her shoulder.

"Because" she was holding back the tears as best she could, "because it's not what he wants, ok? Why am I telling you this to begin with?" she looked at them, her face slightly red, and ashamed to be crying like this in front of them. 

"Because we're here, and we want to know what our stupid, fat arse prat of a brother is up to." Fred's voice seemed to be coming from a bit of a distance.

"Thanks ,you guys, for listening to me, but I have to go and get ready, Ron and I are going to see Harry and Ginny tonight. Ron should be here soon." She got up, and walked up the stairs to the room she was occupying, with the twins watching her go.

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Ron appeared in the kitchen and saw his twin brothers with their heads together, like they used to do when they were plotting in the Gryffindor Common Room at night. They looked up at him when he appeared and got up. Each clamped a hand around one of his arms, and wheeled him to a chair. 

They stood over him, and Ron felt like he was going to be interrogated. "You, dear brother, and we need to talk, about certain things." Fred said mysteriously. 

"What am I supposed to have done?" Ron asked very surprised at his brothers' strange behaviour.

"All we are going to say to you is, that if you're not careful you are going to let a very good thing slip out of your life. You lost it once, and you have been given another chance to get it backdon't make the mistake of letting it go and run away. Unless you go after it, it's not going to come back to you." After that they let him stand again.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron was bewildered.

"That is for you to figure out," George answered, "but we suggest you figure it out soon." They disapparated from the kitchen.

?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?

Hermione heard Ron's voice in the kitchen, and knew he had arrived. She couldn't tell what was being said, but she could tell that Ron was very confused. She heard one of the twins' voices, Ron's again, the other twin, and then, silence. Hermione decided that if she was going to go down stairs, now would be the time. 

Walking down the stairs, she found Ron sitting at the scrub wooden kitchen table in deep, deep thought. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped. He turned to look at her. She was wearing a pair of straight kakhi pants, and a stretchy short sleeved back shirt, and black shoes. Her ensemble was very casual, but very nice and tasteful. "When do we have to be there?" she asked.

"Um," he looked at his watch, "about 5 minutes."

"Where do they live?"

"In a flat in Windsor, very nice actually. You know where the castle is?" She nodded her ascent. "We can apparate there, since you don't know the exact location, and walk the rest of the way." They waved their wands and were gone.

They arrived at the foot of Windsor Castle, the wind was blowing gently, but the evening was pleasantly cool. Ron started walking down the winding road from the castle, passing a shops and restaurants. They passed a parking lot, and strolled down a little street that ended up by the train station. From there they walked down Peascod Street, over a bridge that spanned the Themes, where the Queen's Swans swam beneath them. Pass The House on the Bridge Restaurant, some bars, club, and more closed shops, until they arrived at a small apartment complex. 

They went up the stairs, and Ron knocked on number 234. When the door open, Ginny was behind it. She smiled at Ron and asked, "Where's this mystery friend, hm?" She then gave him a hugbut pull away instantly when she saw Hermione behind him. She screamed and ran to give her old friend a hug. 

The screen alerted Harry who came running in saying, "Ginny, what the hell happened?" stopping dead in his tracks when her set eyes upon the person Ginny was holding. Both Ginny and Hermione were crying, Ron had a weird smile plastered on his face, and Harry just looked flabbergasted. 

Hermione walked over to Harry and looked at him. He threw his arms around her, and held her there, not believing she was really back with them. "Hi, Harry," she whispered in his ear, and he held her even tighter. 

"I thought you would never come back," he whispered to her, and then pulled back, "but I am glad you did."

They walked into the living room, and talked about everything they had to catch up on. How Ron and Hermione had run into each other, how she had come to be in England. About Harry and Ginny's wedding, and about how they were so glad she could be there for it. They talked and talked and talked. All through dinner and dessert, which were both wonderful, and for a while afterwards. 

It was around 10 in the evening when Ron stood up and said, "I know I would love to stay and keep talking, but I have to get Hermione back to The Burrow. Then go home and get some sleep myself because we have to get up to finish the ads in the morning.

They said their good-byes and Hermione promised both Ginny and Harry she would keep in touch when she had to go back to the states.

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Hermione and Ron left the apartment building. It was such a nice night, Hermione asked if Ron would mind walking back the way they had come and disapparating from the castle. As they walked, they talked even more, about many, many subjects, Ron realizing that he and Hermione had even more in common that they had before she had left. They walked very close together, it just felt comfortable, and Ron had managed to put his arm gently around Hermione's waist without her objecting.

As they rounded the bend, coming around by the train station once again, Hermione noticed a flowerpot with flowers blooming in the darkness. _Odd, _she thought as they drew closer, _flowers blooming at 10 at night? _When she was nearly right in front of the pot, she stepped in a puddle that resembled some kind of oil, and started to fall.

As Ron watched her fall something clicked. He now knew what Fred and George had been talking about. Something that had gotten away from him, and would never come back if he let it run away again_Hermione! _He saw her foot slip out in front of her, heard her gasp of surprise, and watched her hit the ground, all this happened before he had a chance to move and help her.

Hermione felt herself falling. She hit the ground, felt something hit the back of her head, and the world swirled into darkness.

A/N- Sorry about that, but I will try and get the next chapter out soonreviews will help (hint hint) Also I haven't been to Windsor in over two years, so if anything has changed, I am sorry to those who may know the area.


	4. The Elemental

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A/N- Today is My Birthday!!!! (3/19) I am in a good mood, so I decided to upload the next chapter!!! :o) Thank you to my reviewers for the last chapter! Since I am a lazy person, I have decided to do a big Thank You thing at the end of the last chapter of my story! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I realize that I keep forgetting to put these damn things on so, this stands true for any future chapters I neglect to write this thing for. I don't own Harry Potter and all that crap.

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Chapter Four- The Elemental

_Oh, my God, _Ron thought as he stood looking at the unconscious Hermione lying on the ground before him. He leaned down and looked to see if there was any blood, there was. It was coming from the back of her head, not quickly, but slowly seeping from the base of her skull. Ron's auror training had taught him first aid, both the muggle way and using spells, but he didn't think he would ever have to use them when his best friend slipped on oil at 10 o'clock. 

Without moving her, Ron cast a spell to stop the bleeding, even if he couldn't heal the wound until he was sure it was safe to turn her over. He used his wand to detect any other injuries to her, but finding none, he picked her up gently, and disapparated to his apartment.

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When he arrived he walked into his spare bedroom, and laid Hermione on her stomach so he could heal the gash on the back of her head properly. When that was done, he turned her over, removed her shoes, pulled back the covers, slipped her beneath them, and walked into the living room. 

He called The Burrow through the fireplace, and when his father's head appeared, he quickly asked to speak with his mother. When she got to the fire, Ron told her what happened. 

"Oh my goodness, do you need me to come get you two, or her? Oh, no Ron, are you sure she is perfectly all right? I really should come get her, where are you?"

"Look, Mum, Hermione is fine now, she is unconscious but besides that she is fine. I have her at my flat, and she can stay over here tonight, because I don't want to let her apparate after a knock to the head." 

"Are you sure you two will be fine over there by yourselves? Hermione doesn't need anything does she?" 

He stared at him mother's frantic face, "No, Mum, we are absolutely fine, I just wanted to let you know she wouldn't be back home tonight. I have to go check on her, Mum, I promise to call if we need anything, or if anything goes wrong, okay?"

His mum sighed heavily, she knew Ron and Hermione were no longer children, but she hated leaving them alone together in Ron's flat. "Yes, alright, dear. Be sure to update me sometime."

"Bye, Mum," Ron's head disappeared.

Hermione sat up and groaned. Her head was pounding, and she was lying in some bed somewhere. The last thing she remembered was slipping on that damn oil and falling, then nothing. She put her palm to her head and gave a loud sigh. 

Ron walked through the doorway, a bottle of some purple foamy stuff in one hand, and a mug of tea in the other. "I heard you groan and figured you might need this." He handed her the bottle, which, Hermione now realized, contained a headache cure. 

"Thanks," she gulped down the horrid contents, and Ron handed her the tea, and she took a gulp. 

"Hey, you don't have any of your stuff, but you are welcome to borrow these to sleep in if you want." He held up a pair of red and white flannel pajama pants, and a big black T-shirt that had "Top Secret" stamped in red across the front. Ron saw Hermione reading the bold lettering, "I don't know where I go this one. Some one most likely gave it to me. I haven't had a chance to do my laundry so unless you would rather sleep in what you are wearing or wear a dirty one, or nothing, it's your only choice." He smiled at her.

"It's absolutely fine, thank you." She smiled back, and reached up to grab the clothes.

"I'll leave you to change then," and he left.

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Hermione got changed, the pants were slightly big, but they had a drawstring waist, so that was easily fixed, even if they were a bit long. The "Top Secret" shirt was big as well, but Hermione didn't mind. The one thing that did bother her though, was everything smelled like Ron, and she may go insane from it. 

She traipsed through the flat, into the kitchen where Ron was making tea, carrying her oily shoe. "Ron, I don't think that what I stepped in was oil."

Ron turned from the stove a bit confused. "What?"

Hermione held up her shoe. The bottom was covered in what appeared to be oil, but it had a green tint to it, and there was a faint green mist raising off the top. Ron came over to take a closer look and his face fell. He grabbed her shoe, and placed it into the freezer. 

"Ron, what did you do that for?" she was staring at him as though he had gone mad.

"Look, go and sit on the couch, when the tea's done I'll bring it in, and explain." He turned back to the stove and hurried the heating process along a bit with his wand.

Hermione took a seat on the loveseat-sized couch in Ron's tiny living room. Soon he came and joined her with two steaming mugs of tea. They were sitting rather close because of the couch's size, but Hermione didn't mind and by the looks of things, Ron didn't either. 

He turned his body so that one leg was half under him and the other was hanging over the edge of the couch. He was leaning against the armrest, and was situated so that he was facing Hermione. She also moved into a similar position, only with both legs on the couch. 

Now Ron spoke. "Hermione, have you ever heard of an elemental?"

"Yes, of course! There aren't very many of them anymore, and they are very powerful, the Ministry is supposed to keep close tabs on them."

"Yes, but do you know what happens when an elemental uses very powerful magic?" 

"No, I don't," Hermione look disappointed in herself. She had always prided herself on knowing things like that.

"Hermione, I didn't expect you to," he added quickly at the look of disappointment on her face. "The only reason I have any clue is because of that damn auror training I went through. We had to learn about every type of dark magic sign. Now, I am no expert on this, but I do know that there was some elemental doing some dark things tonight."

"How do you know?" 

"Herm, when an elemental uses dark magic, that type of oil stuff appears at the scene. It can't be cleaned up, but what happens is when the temperature reaches 70º the stuff starts to evaporate. There is no way to tell who specifically did the magic, but they can tell what type of elemental. Yours was an Earth Elemental, you can tell by the green tinge and the green steam. Water is slightly blue, Fire is red, and Air is a whitish-gray." 

"I thought an elemental couldn't do dark magic."

"They can't. But what they can do is a spell that hurts the element they get their magic from. The Earth one we came across probably did something to those flowers."

"They were blooming, he couldn't have done anything. Unless" Hermione had a brainwave and you could almost see the light bulb appear above her head. "Unless the person made the flowers bloom at night, which would throw off their sleeping pattern, if you will. That you make them bloom at night, and close during the day, eventually killing the plant!"

"Bright one you are!" Ron smiled at her, "Why anyone would want to do that, I have _no _idea! In the morning though we will have to have a ministry auror come look at the stuff, they need to know if something is going wrong."

"I have one last question," Ron looked at her. "It's not about the elemental, it's about what happened there tonight. Ron, what happened to me? The last thing I remember is hitting the ground, then nothing."

"You passed out. You fell on a rock, it hit the back of your head, made a pretty nasty gash. That's why you're here instead of at Mum's. I didn't want to let you apparate over there until I knew you were ok. You should wait until morning though, I don't think you should risk it. You can use the extra bedroom."

"Where did I get hit?"

Ron reached around the back of her head, and felt the base of her skull, until he found the spot where the cut had been. "Right here," he whispered in her ear, rubbing the spot gently, his touch making Hermione's skin tingle madly. Her breathing slowed. 

"How can it be completely gone?" she murmured into his ear, and it was Ron's turn to shiver.

He didn't let go of her, and was still rubbing the spot where the blood had oozed from her skull not long before. "I healed it for you before you lost too much blood. You think that I would let some quack mediwizard heal that for you? They would keep you at St. Mungo's for a week for that tiny little nick."

He was still whispering, even though he had stopped rubbing, and still had his arm around her, his hand resting on her neck. "You made it sound a lot worse than a little nick.'" She breathed into his ear and accidentally let him know what he was doing to her.

He smiled, since Hermione couldn't see, and replied, "It was pretty bad, yes. But not bad enough to keep you there for a week. Believe me, in college, I got an injury much like yours, the school sent me there to be checked out, and they insisted on keeping me."

"Thank you, Ron," she whispered trying to gain control of herself. His breathing had stirred the hair that had fallen around her ears, and it tickled insanely, but also drove her crazy. They sat this way for a while more, before Ron pulled back a bit, not letting her go, but enough so her could see her face. 

"We need to talk, Herm," his face was somber. 

"About what?"

"About what happened between us."

Hermione shifted uncomfortably trying to get out of his grasp. "Oh, no, I won't let you leave. We need to talk about what happened, because we need to get over it, and I can't stand you avoiding me."

"If I were avoiding you, I wouldn't be here right now, and definitely not in the position I am in."

"But, if I tried to kiss you, I bet you would push me away." He looked in her eyes, and she saw there something she had never seen before. 

Hermione didn't say anything, so he slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to hers. When he pulled away a few seconds later, Hermione turned her head from his and stared at the beige carpeting. Her mind was spinning from just that few seconds of contact, and she wondered what would happen to her if the kiss had continued.

"See, I told you would do that. Hermione look at me." She turned her head, not completely, but enough so she could see him again. It wasn't enough to satisfy Ron though, and he placed his hand gently under her chin, and continued to turn her face until she was looking him in the eye. "Why are you scared of me?"

"I am not scared of you, Ron." Her voice trembled, she really didn't want to talk about what happened. 

"Then why are you avoiding me?"

"I told you, Ron, I am _not _avoiding you!" she was getting angrier now and Ron was very aware of it, however, he stood his ground.

"Then how come you turned your head when I kissed you, hmm? Because I know you wanted me to, Herm, don't deny that." He looked into her eyes once more, and she tried her bast to look away but his gaze kept drawing her back.

"You're right, I did want it, ever since I was seventeen. When I told you, you pushed me away. You told me that we were too young to be in love, that we had no idea what love meant. You said that I was stupid and foolish and couldn't really know if what I felt was real or not. You told me that real love is something most people never find, and that we weren't ready for a relationship. I told you I loved you, and you essentially told me to get lost. So, I am so sorry, if I don't fall into your arms Ronald Weasley, but some memories never leave you, as well as some feelings." She pulled away from Ron, and jumped of the couch, she started running to the room she was supposed to stay in.

Ron let her go, he didn't want to push her any more tonight.

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Hermione got into her bedroom and shut the door. She tried to go to sleep, but could not get Ron out of her mind. His scent was all around her, from the clothes she was wearing to the sheets that were on the bed. Eventually though she must have drifted off because the next thing she remembered, was that morning had come at last. 

She walked out into the kitchen to find yet another pot of tea on the muggle stove. She poured herself a cup and walked into the living room where they had had their fight the night before. There she found Ron sitting on the couch, the same place he had been the night before, staring fixedly at the empty fireplace.

"Good morning," Hermione said softly behind him. He jumped.

"Hey, I didn't know you were up." He didn't look at her, just kept his gaze on that fireplace.

"What's the plan for today?" Hermione didn't know how to start the conversation, it was obvious that they were both uncomfortable about the night before, and Hermione knew that they would have to talk about it before she left tonight, or she would never be happy with herself. 

"The Ad Agency called. Said they liked the ads we turned in yesterday and we don't need to do anymore. I contacted the Ministry, and they are having someone come over around 11:30 to look at your shoe." He was still looking at that fireplace. Hermione wasn't sure what was so fascinating about it. She went and sat next to him on the floor. He didn't move.

"Ron, what's wrong?" _Dumb question, _Hermione thought immediately after the fact. He still didn't look at her. "Ron?"

"My friend," Ron started, "was going to tell this girl he loved her. But before he could even get the words out, she told him, she wasn't interested. So he sat in bed thinking about all the advice his brothers and his mother had given him about this girl. They all thought the two of them would be perfect together, that they would be happy. My friend knew that he had let her leave him once, and didn't want to do it again, but there was no point if his feelings weren't returned. So he got up at 6, and sat one the floor thinking, never coming up with an answer." When he had finished this tale, Hermione was more sure then when it was started, that he was talking about himself.

"And did this friend try talking to this girl about it. What had happened before, and what she had done to his heart, or what he may have done to hers?" She looked at him, but he was still transfixed by the fireplace.

"He tried, but never got past hearing a retelling of what he had inadvertently done to her, before she stormed from the room."

"What had he done?"

"When she told him a long time before about her feelings for him, he told her that he thought they were too young to believe in love. He told her that he thought they couldn't know what love meant."

"If that was the way he feels, then what changed his mind?"

"He realized that he never meant any of those things he said. He realized that he only said it because he was frightened. His best friend comes up and tell him she is in love with him, he didn't know how to react to it. Now, years later, the biggest mistake he has ever made, comes back to haunt him."

"And what do you think your friend should do?"

He was still gazing at the fireplace. "I thinkI think that he should go up to this girl before she can walk out of his life again, and tell her what he feels for her, show her what he feels for her." 

"How do you know this would work for him?"

"I don't know. He would have to hope, that since it happened so long ago, she would be able to forget it. Let bygones be bygones, and start over."

"Would you care to test your theory?"

Now, Ron looked at her directly in the eyes and said, "Hermione, I'm sorry. I was scared when I said what I did, and I didn't know how to react. Last night 

, I wanted to talk to you about it, and before I could say a thing about what I was feeling, you had told me you didn't want anything to do with me, and stormed off to your room." His voice was shaking, and Hermione felt tears come to her eyes. 

"If you were confused, why didn't you say that when I told you how I felt? Why didn't you say you wanted some time to figure things out?"

"Because I was _seventeen! _A seventeen-year-old guy never tells anyone, except their best mate, what they are really feeling! A seventeen –year-old, doesn't know what to say when they find out their other best friend is in love with them. I still don't think I know what to say, but I have to try before I let you leave again!"

The tears in Hermione's eyes had finally over flowed, and she cried into Ron's shirt as she had done at the burrow, still whispering about being sorry, this time for a different reason. Again, Ron wrapped comforting arms around her, whispering words of comfort as best he could. "I forgive you, Ron. Just give me some time, I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Sure, whenever your ready, Hermione, let me know, I'm here."

Hermione then looked up at him, their gazes locked and Hermione found she had trouble breathing. She leaned forward and kissed him tentatively, and not for long. She pulled back, not wishing to make him think she was ready, he knew though. Ron understood it was one of those I-love-you-but-give-me-time kisses. As they gazed into each other's eyes, happy that they had reached some kind of agreement over their problem, there was a knock at the door.

A/N- I am not sure if I am happy with this chapter, so review and let me know if I should leave it as is, of do it overmore fluffless and save it for later at a more fitting time? Let me know! P.-)


	5. Ministry Officials

A/N- Thank you once again to my wonderful reviewers!! You guys make me so happy!! I believe it was amber and Dana (who I have already spoken withlol!!) who said I they thought the fic was moving a little slowlyI am sorry. Unless I get many, many, many more complaints I am not going to speed up, because there is so much I want to get into this fic, and I like to keep it as real as possiblesorry you guys, but I hope you keep reading!! My story id beginning to develop plot, and I am hoping it has some depth to it! I was planning out the sketchy plot for the rest, and this could turn into a rather long fic, but we will see what happens! On with the show!! 

P.S.- I also use the expression "yanking her cord," meaning making her mad, some people would do kindly to get their minds out of the gutter when reading that line! Thank You! J 

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Chapter Five- 

Ron got up to answer the door, looking at the clock. "Herm, that is probably the guy from the Ministry, you may wanna get dressed, he may want to ask you some questions about what happened."

"Oh, right, yeah I forgot about that! Where do you want me to put your clothes?"

"There is a clothes bin inside my bedroom door, they can go in there." Ron smiled a bit guiltily, "It's a bit full, so you may need to put it next to the bin instead." 

"Eww, Ron, that's gross! You still live in a pigsty? How old are you?"

Ron chuckled, "I'm male, what do you expect? Men get married so that they can have picky people like you pick up after them."

"Excuse me, Ronald?!" Hermione was looking at Ron, hoping she was right when she assumed he was joking. 

"Well, what else are you good for?" He smiled evilly and Hermione's suspicions were confirmed, Ron was yanking her cord on purpose. 

"No wonder you live in a pigsty, Ron," Hermione figured she could at least get him back for those comments, even if he didn't mean them. "You are a chauvinistic, sexist pig!" Leaving Ron with that on his conscience, she left the room to change. 

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There was another knock on the door. _Oops, _Ron thought. He had been so busy flirting with Hermione, he had forgotten about the person at the door. 

He walked aver and opened it, to find Dean Thomas standing on the other side. His eyes grew wide, he hadn't seen the man on the other side of the door foroh, God, how long had it been? Ron couldn't remember, but he knew it had been a long while.

"Dean!" he said shaking his hand like the old friend he was. "How are you? What have you been up to?" Ron led Dean into the living room as he answered.

"Oh, plenty! I marred Lavender a couple months after leaving Hogwarts then got a job at the ministry looking into potential Dark Arts cases. Which is why I was sent over today." Dean smiled, and opened his mouth to speak when another voice came through the house, calling to Ron.

"Who is it, Ron?" Hermione couldn't see the two of them in the other room, but she could hear the friendly way they were talking, and figured that they had probably know each other for a very long time. She walked, now fully dressed in another pair of jeans, and a green t-shirt with "Abacrombie and Fitch" written across the front.

"Dean, oh, it's so good to se you!" She ran over and gave her old friend a hug, then stepped back next to Ron. Dean had a quirky smile spread across his lips.

"Hey, Hermione! What have you been up to?"

"I am going to school in the States, right now, actually. I have come home for a weekend visit though." She didn't feel the need to tell Dean the rest of the complications this story held. 

"And you are staying with Ron?" Hermione saw where this conversation was once again heading. _Why do I always have this type of conversation with people, _Hermione couldn't help pondering.

She felt it was better not to get too into the matter, and broaden the grin on Dean's face so she answered simply, "Yes, yes I am." Ron's mouth dropped open, but then closed quickly as he realized he didn't want Dean to think that this was news to him.

"Ah, I see." Dean then turned a bit more business like and said, "I hear you have some potential Dark Arts activity that needs to be looked into."

Ron led Dean into the kitchen with Hermione bringing up the rear. He went over and pulled open the freezer, revealing a bunch of popsicles, ice cream, a few loaves of frozen bread, and Hermione's shoe. 

"Elemental," Ron stated handing the shoe over to an interested Dean. "We found the stuff over in Windsor, on Peascod Street. Earth, if I am correct, and there was a bin of blooming flowers next to the puddle."

"Blooming flowers are not so irregular." Dean commented rationally.

"They are if it is ten o'clock in the evening." Ron looked at Dean. I know Elementals only leave this behind when they do something they're not supposed to, but I am no expert, so I figured I'd ask one. What do you make of it?"

Dean studied the shoe carefully, placing a freezing charm on it with his wand. "You're right, Ron. Earth Element, but why? We will have to check the area it was found in, and the whole drill. Do you mind if we take the shoe?" Dean looked at Hermione, as it was obviously her shoe.

"I don't have any other shoes, Dean. If it is _really _necessary, then take it, but otherwise I would like to have it back." She looked at him apologetically.

"I understand completely Hermione." Dean rose walked over and asked Ron if he had any plastic bags. He pulled a Zip-Loc out of the kitchen drawer and handed it to him. Carefully, using his wand, Dean extracted all the goo off the shoe and handed it back to Hermione. "We will let you know as soon as we get any more information. Or, at least I will. The ministry doesn't keep up with the people we get evidence from unless they are directly involved or threatened by it, but I know that if it were me, I would want to know, so I'll be in touch."

Hermione and Ron showed him out of the apartment, and collapsed onto the couch. Hermione cuddled up against Ron, her head on his chest, and they sat there in deep silence for a while, thinking what anyone would accomplish killing a plant.

At around 1:30, Hermione finally broke the comfortable silence. "Ron, I have to go back to school tomorrow."

He looked at her as though she were very dense, "So?"

"So," Hermione began, "do you think I need to stay here, because of the stuff we found? I really need to go, I will be graduating in 3 months, and I need to start drawing up my study schedule for the finals!"

Ron let out an exasperated sigh. Hermione was no longer leaning against him, she was sitting up straight with a worried look on her face. "Herm, calm down. I will ask Dean if he needs you to stay, alright?"

Hermione was chewing nervously on her fingernails. "But, Ron, If the need me to stay, how am I going to do my school work, if I am here?" 

Ron put a hand on each of Hermione's shoulders, and looked at her. "If you have to stay, we can probably get the ministry to send a letter to the college. Your professors can send all you homework, and schoolwork to you, where ver you end up staying."

Hermione smiled at this solution to her pressing problem. "Oh, good! That way I won't fall behind! Thanks, Ron!" She was so ecstatic, she threw her arms around him, a huge smile across her face, all the way to her ears.

Ron had to use extreme amounts of self-control, not to pull back and kiss her gently, like he really wanted to. He put his arms around her, the smell of Hermione swirling into his nose. "Only you, Hermione," Ron breathed, almost inaudibly, as she was still holding her. He had meant it only to himself since she was the only one who could just stand in a room with him, and make his head spin, never mind what happened to him when they were this close. 

Hermione, however, heard that low whisper and pulled back, her large smile was gone, but she still had a twinkle in her eyes. "Only me what, Ron?"

"Only youwould be this happy about not missing your school work," was the lame excuse he came up with, for she said she still "needed more time."

Hermione puled away from him, and went back into her room to write a couple owls. As Ron watched her go, he hips swinging lazily and her bushy hair bouncing a little as she walked, he couldn't help thinking that it was going to be very hard, and exhausting, to keep his hands off her, if they ended up living together for a bit, no matter how short it may be. 

A/N- sorry it took me so long to get this ridiculously short chapter out (but I wanted to get something out soon, and the next one should be longer), but I have had every single little thing that could happen to me to put off this chapter, happen! First I got a new computer, and then my old one died before I could get the files for this chapter transferred on to it. Then once it was up and running again, I had this huge project due for school, and was spending all my time on that! So I finally have been able to finish this chapter, and I swear that it will never take me this long to get out another chapter again, unless I warn you all before hand! ;-) Review if you like, and I will try to work a bit faster on the next chapter. Something I want to say about reviews thoughif you hate my story, tell me so. Reviews are the only way I can learn to improve! ;-)

One other thing to bother everyone with. I wrote another story called The Song of Reincarnation, but I have no reviews, and I don't know if anyone has read it at all. It may be because I suck at writing summaries, or it is just badI don't know, someone give me some feed back on it somehow! Thank Very Much!


	6. Kidnap!!

A/N- OK, here's the next chapter! I know I have to get better at writing faster, but I am such a bookworm, I forget to type, and not just read! Our class went on a 5 day trip to Washington DC (We live in NJ) and that also took up a bit of time preparing and what notany way here we go!

Chapter 6

The rest of the afternoon was spent rather peaceably. Ron made a few floo calls to the ministry leaving messages for various people, including Dean, and then went into his room. Sitting at his small desk, writing yet more letters, and shuffling through new advertising campaigns the company had accepted. 

He was looking at some picture others in the group working on the Bertie Bott's advertising had taken, when he heard a small tap on his door jamb.

Hermione stood there in the open door way, the faint light from the living room fire silhouetting her figure like some kind of deity. She looked at him before speaking, "Ron, it's nearly 7:30, and I was wondering if you wanted me to scrounge up something for diner?"

Ron looked at his watch. "Oh, that late already?" His gaze shift to a couple more stacks of mail that had to be looked through before he returned to the office tomorrow. "Have you heard anything from Dean?"

"Not yet. His secretary said that he hasn't been back yet, and that she would tell him as soon as he got inor as soon as she knew where he is." She looked a bit worried.

"Herm," Ron said getting up from his chair, and stretching his long body that was stiff from hours of sitting hunched over in a hard, wooden chair. "He will get the message before morning, I know he will, he always checks with his secretary for any late mail around 8:30. The Dean will get a letter by morning." Ron smiled at his own bad pun.

"Ha, ha, ha," Hermione looked at him, the familiar sarcasm back in her voice. "About dinner"

Ron reached up to rub the back of his neck in a kind of thoughtful gesture. "I don't know what I have here. Should be enough for the two of us. Although I don't usually keep enough of everything around for twocan you cook pasta?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ron, I grew up as a Muggle! If I can't do pasta no one can!" She turned and a few moments later he heard the crashing of cupboards and the clanking of pans. 

Felling guilty for leaving Hermione to cook, as he knew very well what she thought of men sticking women with all the "house chore" type jobs, he walked into the small kitchen. The tiny room had all it's lamps magically lit, Ron saved on electricity bills, since his father had figured out how to produce the same effect with a spell, giving the room a very homey feel.

"I thought you were working," she didn't even turn around, she knew he was in the room by the presence of a new shadow.

"Yeah, well, my sexist, chauvinistic pig' side," he smiled slightly as he saw she noticed the phrase she had used to describe him earlier in the day, "wanted to leave you to do the cooking. My sensitive, caring, woman's rights side said that I should be in here helping you. Be glad I am 51% of side B and only 49% of A." He smirked, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

:":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":

They had eaten dinner, which comprised of pasta with butter and a glass of water, then went into the living room. Sitting down on the sofa, Hermione leaning against one arm, Ron against the other, they began talking. 

They talked about the past and the future. The weather, Muggle history, clothing styles, food. And their past love lives also came up

"How's life?" Ron asked as they sat down on the couch.

"Alright from this side of tomorrow, you?" Hermione was not sure where this conversation would end up, but she figured she should keep it light.

"Good enough, although some things could change for the better, including my relationship with certain people" he stared at her with a steamy look in his eyes that made Hermione shift a bit in her seat.

She decided now would be a good time to try and turn the tables. "So, Ron, How many women have gone out with since I've been gone, hmm"

She gave an evil smirk as a confused look spread across Ron's face, "Hermione, I haven't seen you for 5 years—"

"So?"

"Why do you want to know?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I like to know something about a man before I date him, that is if I decide to at all." She was trying to intimidate him, and she knew he could tell, but she continued on the same train of thought. "We'll see if you stand a chance."

"He smiled slightly at the hidden challenge. "A rough number?" Hermione nodded. "Maybe about 20 or so, that I can think of right now anyway, you?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I like to know something about a woman before I date them." Now she knew he was trying to get on her nerves as he had confessed his loved to her just the night before, but she decided to humour him just the same.

"Oh6 or 7." She looked at him, and his mouth was slightly open.

"Only 6 or 7?" He looked completely flabbergasted. "In 5 years?"

"Yep," she smiled, "school work and what not gets in the way a bit." He was still staring at her as if she was completely un-human. "Next question, how many of them have you slept with?"

Now Ron was really surprised, "What is this, 20 questions?"

"Yes, in a way, now answer truthfully." She smirked evilly.

__

Well, Ron thought, two can play at this game. "Do you mean _slept _with, or had _sex _with?"

"What's the difference?"

"Quite a bit actually. I could have slept with one, meaning falling asleep on the couch in front of the fire, or I could have slept with one, meaning going into the bedroom and getting it on." It was now his turn to smirk as her face showed disbelief that he was crude enough to use a phrase like "getting it on."

"You have such an eloquent vocabulary, Ron," Hermione said with a huff. She smiled at that. "I meant who have youmade love toand you know it. And you have to answer truthfully."

"Four," Ron answered with all honesty. Hermione looked a bit rattled that he had actually said so with out any dodgey comments. "You?"

Hermione blush at having her own embarrassing question turned around on her, although, she thought , she should have known she would so that to her. "One." Her answer was rather quiet and shy. "And it was only because I was not in a good mood, and we went out one night. I got completely plastered, and he took advantage of me. I can't even say that I remember it all too well."

"Hermione" his tone held mock disappointment. "You get plastered and lose you virginity all in the same night?"

"Yes, it was the only time I had gotten drunk as well."

He could see that her face, even though she was looking down at her hands, was getting redder. "Hey, I've been completely wasted about six of seven times, so consider your self lucky you've only been through the hang-over once!" He volunteered the information in an effort to make her feel better.

"Yes, well, I am glad about that fact as well." The clock chimed 9:30, and Hermione jumped. "Oh my! I didn't realize how late it was. I need to get to bed!" She started to get up, but then Ron spoke again.

"Hermione, it's only 9:30! You don't have to go to bed!"

"I should have been in bed a half hour ago, but I stayed up!" She looked down at him, watching his face.

"This early? Hermione,—"

"I'm tired, Ron, I am going to go to sleep." Ron, it seemed had decided to stop arguing the point, and let her walk off. 

He got up and headed into his own room, to do some more paper work while he lay in bed. Ron walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Staring into the mirror, he looked at his reflection carefully, trying to find out if there was something wrong with him, something that may make himundesirable to Hermione. As soon as their conversation had gotten so that she would have to reveal some type of information about herself, she had fled. Straightening up as he realized, maybe the problem wasn't him at all, he got changed into him maroon pajama pants, still pondering Hermione and women in general.

As he walked out of the bathroom, heading towards the bedroom, he heard a high shrill scream, coming from Hermione's room. It stopped abruptly, accompanied by a soft thunk. Ron ran as fast as he could into the other room, just in time to see a very tall figure with a dark forest green hood obscuring his face, disaperate, with an unconscious Hermione slung over his shoulder.

A/N- Sorry that this another short one, but the next one should be longer. I want to wrap this story up because I am not going to be here all summer, I will actually only be in my home state for about 1 week in August after July 5, and then not again until school starts back up in September!!! This story is moving a bit faster than I originally planned, but I hope it turns out nearly was well as it would have otherwise. The plot for this chapter was also pretty dumb, and I apologize for that as it only had one purpose to forward the plot, and that was to get Hermione caught, and I needed a reason for her to go to bed, as well as something to fill this hellishly dumb chapter! Put up with me until the next one, I beg of you!

One more thing, I am still looking for some brave, gallant, noble person to go and read my other fic The Song of Reincarnation, and tell me what to do with it, because it has been up for a while and I still don't have any reviews. Maybe my summary sucksdunno, someone let me know on that, anybody who is willing. Thank You Very Much!!


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